The older you get, the more spice you need

I’ve been trying really hard this month to avoid writing about those well-covered subjects such as G20, Brexit and the Olympics. So here we go with something everyone can relate to, and that’s food.

If you want to start an animated conversation in my office here in London, just casually ask which region in China produces the best food. Then sit back and wait for the food wars to begin.

Like most Britons of my generation, my introduction to Chinese food came in my teens via a Cantonese-run restaurant, in this case in Oxford.

Remember, the early 1960s were a bit barren on the cuisine front, even in a cosmopolitan place like the university city of Oxford.

English food was a leftover memory from the rationing of World War II, where rationing meant what food there was had to be wholesome, and not fancy.

That’s probably where the good old British pub staples such as fish and chips or steak and kidney pie emanated from. Fish because we’re an island race, and chips because potatoes are an easily grown source of starch in the temperate climate of England. Okay, for temperate, read wet.

Like our German cousins, we’ve learned to do all sorts of weird and wonderful things with the humble potato.

In those days, sophistication was taking your date to a French-style bistro, complete with red and white checkered table clothes, dubious vin du maison and the ever-present onion soup.

But in Oxford, if you really wanted to show your international smarts, you’d head for the only Chinese restaurant in town, just off Cornmarket.

Of course, the Hong Kong couple who ran it had adapted the Cantonese menu to Western tastes, which meant most of my Chinese colleagues here stare in amazement when I ask about beef with bamboo shoots and water chestnuts, or the other standby, chicken with cashew nuts, usually drenched in a sauce that was laden with monosodium glutamate.

As my knowledge of food, both Asian and European, has progressed, so has my appreciation of what’s best in various areas. I’ve become a fan of the different regional cuisines.

Vietnamese food is way up there on the list, with its delicate treatment of seafood a light touch when it comes to sauces. Thai food can be a winner, too.

In the interests of preserving my sanity in an office that reflects the cuisines of China from north to south, and east to west, I have to say I’ve liked everything that has been put my way.

There’s an old adage which, as I approach the dreaded three-score and ten, says the older you get, the spicier you like your food. And I’m finding it’s true.

So I’ve really come to appreciate Sichuan cuisine, with strong garlic and chilli flavors and what I have recently discovered is a particularly fiery kind of pepper found only in Sichuan province.

Next on my list is the cuisine of Hunan province, which I’m told offers a different kind of hot.

Bring it on.

Contact the writer at chris@ mail.chinadailyuk.com